Biljana Plavsic

Biljana Plavsic (7 July 1930-) was President of the Republika Srpska from 19 July 1996 to 4 November 1998, succeeding Radovan Karadzic and preceding Nikola Poplasen.

Biography
Biljana Plavsic was born in Tuzla, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia in 1930 to a family of Bosnian Serbs. She worked as a biology professor and scientist before joining the Serb Democratic Party. From 1990 to 1992, Plavsic was the first female member of the Presidency of SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, having been elected during the first multi-party elections in 1990. In November 1992, she became a member of the Supreme Command of the armed forces of the Republika Srpska, and she was elected President of the Republika Srpska in 1996, serving until 1998. In 2003, she was sentenced to 11 years in prison for war crimes committed during the Bosnian War, but she was released in 2009.